Additional Chapter for 10 Power Stones. Thanks Mamdouh_Mohamed and Tidraus for this one.
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As for whether borrowing power would be noticed by Azik? Evah wasn't worried, because the answer was— no.
Only the Shadow of Time pulled through a medium would possess self-awareness and be detected by the original person. Borrowing power through favorability, however, would not be noticed by them.
"Next, it's about deepening the relationship. Given Azik's situation, building initial favorability is easy, but advancing it further will require some effort. Fortunately, I have a trump card," Evah thought, his smile growing brighter.
Evah's trump card naturally referred to using the Shadow of Time skill to summon Azik's past children, allowing a brief reunion between father and son or daughter, thereby boosting Azik's favorability.
However, Evah wouldn't use this move lightly. It wasn't a matter of distrusting Azik, but rather a need to control the pace of Azik's memory recovery. If he wasn't careful and caused Azik's memories to recover too quickly, it could lead to him abruptly shifting into Death Consul's personality, which would be problematic.
"It's a pity that Klein isn't even a Beyonder yet .. otherwise, I could borrow some of his strength too," Evah mused to himself, though he wasn't discouraged. Given Klein's promotion speed, it wouldn't take a few years for him to become a big shot. His potential was undoubtedly immense.
"Now then, it's time to visit the Divinition Club," Evah said, canceling the use of Azik's abilities. After wandering around outside for a bit, he arrived at one of his safehouses. Once again changing his appearance, he took a trackless carriage to the entrance of a Divinition Club.
This was the very same "Divinition Club" that Klein joined in the original story. The main reason Evah came here was Hanass Vincent, a member of the Aurora Order.
Of course, Evah had no intention of killing Hanass Vincent to prevent the upcoming Tingen crisis. For one, based on the timeline, Megose had likely already conceived the True Creator's offspring, so killing Hanass Vincent wouldn't change anything. Additionally, the true culprits behind the Tingen incident were Ince Zangwill and 0-08. Without dealing with those two, no amount of effort would matter.
Evah's reason for wanting to interact with Hanass Vincent was to see if the True Creator could detect his existence through a follower and, if so, what kind of attitude the True Creator would display.
The latter was the key point.
This would determine Evah's future approach toward the True Creator and his affiliated organizations.
As for why Evah didn't choose to contact Mr. A in Backlund, the reason was simple at his current level, he couldn't defeat Mr. A. If Mr. A harbored any ill intentions, escaping would be difficult.
Dealing with Hanass Vincent, on the other hand, was much simpler.
With this in mind, Evah entered the Divinition Club. After efficiently registering and paying to join, he smiled and said, "Miss Angelica, I've heard of Mr. Hanass Vincent's reputation even before joining the club. Is he here today? I'd like him to do a reading for me."
Angelica, at the reception, wasn't too surprised by this. After all, Hanass Vincent did have some fame in Tingen's divination circles. She smiled and replied, "Mr. Hanass Vincent is currently teaching a class. You'll have to wait a bit for a reading, but if you're interested, you can sit in on the session. You can also raise your hand to ask questions."
"Thank you," Evah said politely. Following Angelica's lead, he entered the meeting room and found a seat in a corner.
On the platform in the meeting room stood a middle-aged man wearing a black classical robe, with heavy dark circles under his eyes and rather distinctive hair. He was methodically lecturing on something.
When he saw a newcomer enter, Hanass Vincent didn't pause his lesson. He merely nodded slightly at Evah before continuing to eloquently explain knowledge related to astrological divination.
At a certain moment, Evah noticed Hanass Vincent tilt his head slightly, as if listening to something, causing him to forget to continue speaking.
This lasted for three or four seconds. As the other students in the room began to show puzzled expressions, Hanass Vincent seemed to snap out of it. His face displayed an indescribable fervor, though he quickly turned to hide his expression.
But before he turned, Evah caught Hanass Vincent glancing at him. There was no malice in his gaze—rather, it was intensely fervent.
Oh, interesting!
Evah raised an eyebrow.
For the rest of the time, it was clear that Hanass Vincent's lecturing pace quickened. After the class ended, not long afterward, in the white crystal divination room, Evah met the Aurora Order member again.
"Your Excellency, the Favored One, what are your orders? No matter the task, Hanass Vincent will surely complete it for you," Hanass Vincent said fervently, kneeling on one knee the moment he entered and closed the door.
Evah wasn't surprised by this. He had already guessed that the True Creator would have this kind of attitude toward him. If the True Creator retained memories of their encounter, he would know that Evah held a trump card capable of destroying the world alongside him. Furthermore, Luo Lin could summon the past version of the True Creator. With these cards in play, it was only natural for the True Creator to choose to win him over before determining whether Luo Lin was a friend or foe to the world.
For the True Creator, this wasn't a big deal. At worst, it was a chance to probe Evah's situation, a win-win scenario.
That said, even though he had anticipated this, Evah couldn't help but chuckle when it was confirmed. He took a sip of the black tea on the table and said lightly, "I don't have anything for you to do."
Then, standing up, he added, "Remember, you never saw me today."
Evah had no intention of getting entangled with Hanass Vincent. The man was already part of 0-08's script and would soon be targeted by the Tingen Nighthawks. Evah didn't want to invite trouble.
His purpose today was solely to confirm the True Creator's attitude—nothing more.
As for the fact that Hanass Vincent would die soon, what did that have to do with Evah.
He had no interest in saving a villain who had little value and no connection to him.
"Yes!" Hanass Vincent froze, clearly confused but not daring to ask the Favored One across from him, "Then why are you here?"
He merely kept his head lowered, waiting until the person beside him left, the door closed, and the sound of footsteps faded. Only then did Hanass Vincent look up, exhaling deeply. His expression was a mix of fervor and confusion. "So why exactly did the Favored One come here? Could it be… could it be for the upcoming sacrifice?"
No matter Hanass Vincent thought, Evah, who had left the Divinition Club, changed his appearance once more and took a trackless carriage back to his rented house.
'...'
(End of Chapter)